Rug-display rack.



J. H. DURAN.

' RUG DISPLAY RACK. APPLICATION FILED APR.26. 1915.

1,1629%. Patent ed Dec. 7,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. H. DORAN.

RU G DISPLAY RACK. APPLICATION FILED APR.26. 19:5.

Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

abtozneiao COLUMBIA PLANODRAIH Co., WASHINGTON. n. c.

JAMES H. DORAN, OF MONTICELLO, INDIANA.

RUG-DISPLAY RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed Dec. .7, 1915.

Application filed April 26, 1915, Serial No. 24,012.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. DORAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Monticello, in the county of WVhite and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rug-Display Racks; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in racks and more particularly to display racks for rugs, curtains and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a rack of this character for'storing and displaying articles such as rugs and cur- ,tains in a very small space and which may be placed in any desired position ina room without interfering with the operation of the rack.

Another object is to provide a rack of this character which is simple in construction,

having few parts to get out of order, which is easily operated and may be lowered to any position at any angle with but little effort on the part of the operator, and in which the number of armsmay be increased or diminished at the will of the user, each arm being independently mounted relative to the others.

VVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and claimed.

1n the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a rack constructed in accordance with this invention, the articles supported thereby being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the display arm in its lowermost position in full lines and in intermediate position in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is an en larged side elevation of the inner end of the rack supporting arm detached, showing it arranged adjacent its support in juxtaposition ready for assembling, said support being shown in vertical section; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the upper end of the support with the arm removed; Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1 showing the construction of the supporting hooks carried by the arm; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail vertical section through the lower end of the support and the floor plate with which it is connected showing tion, there are utilized a plurality of vertical supports or guide posts 1 pivotally secured at their opposite ends in bearings 2 and 3 which may be located adjacent the ceiling and floor of a building, or be formed as a part of a frame therefor toprovide for the lateral turning of said post.

These supporting guide posts 1 and the members carried thereby are exactly alike in construction and any desired number thereof may be employed according to the articles to be displayed, and consequently one only will be described in detail.

These posts are preferably mounted on a floor plate 4 and a ceiling plate. 5, the floor plate 4 being shown in the form of a rectangular bar having a plurality of trans versely extending sockets 6 longitudinally spaced from each other a suitable distance to provide for the proper positioning of the rack members to enable the articles carried thereby to be satisfactorily exhibited. These sockets 6 are here shown rectangular in form and open through one side edge of the bar or plate 4 to provide for the ready insertion and removal of the blocks 7 which carry thebearings 2, said blocks being here shown provided with a laterally extending plate or disk-like flange 8 which overlaps the upper face of the bar 4 and is detach ably connected thereto by means of the removable pin9 which passes through an aperture 10 in said plate 8 and enters a socket 11 formed in the bar 4: in suitable position to receive the pin.

Secured to the lower end of the post 1 is a plate 12 which is shown provided with a depending stud or pintle 13 which is designed to enter the bearing 2 of the socket plate or block 7 and thereby pivotally connect the post with said plate after it has been secured in position on the baseor floor plate 4:. This plate 12 may be secured in any suitable or desired manner to the post 1, being here shown connected thereto by screws 1-1, this form' of connection being employed when the post 1 is constructed of plate 12 having an upwardly extending pintle 13 designed to rotatably engage the bearing 3 carried by the ceiling plate 5, sald bearing 3 being here shown in the form of a I disk having'a central aperture 3' and a plurality of screw receiving apertures 3" for connecting it to the ceiling plate 5.

- "The post 1 near its upper end has openings 15 and 16'the'rein, the opening 15 extending transversely therethrough and being designed to receive and house a grooved pulley 23, while the opening, 16 extends through a portion only of the post and is the openings 15 and 16 in the post, the openo provided with a beveled catch member 1 8 here shown carried by a plate 19 secured to theface of the post and having openings 20 and 21 therein positioned "to register with ing 21 being provided at its lower end with a beveled lip which constitutes the catch member 18 which is designed to be engaged by a latch or catch member carried by the article supporting arm 31 to be described.

The opening 21 in the plate 19 is of a width "slightly greater thanthe thickness of the member 30, whereby, said member and the arm 31 on which it is mounted is held against lateral movement relatively to the post.- A recess 22 is formed in the rear face of the post 1 in aplan'e in longitudinal aline- ,me'ntwith the opening 15 and ina plane above-the openings 15 and 16 andin which is mounted a grooved pulley 17, said recesses 22 having an extension opening through the front ofthe post as shown at 2-1 for the passage therethrough of an operating cable or cord 29. A cord or cable 25 is secured at one end to the arm 31 adjacent the latch 30 ther'eof,'the connection for said'cable being here shown in the form-of an eye bolt 26 extending transversely through the arm 31 and held in operative engagement therewith by the usual nut 27. The arm 31 whichis designed for supporting the rugs or other artlcl'es to be displayed may be of any suit able or desired lengthaccording tothe size of the rug to be mounted thereon and is here shown provided near its" free. end with another eye bolt 28 towhich one end of an operating cable 29 is connected, said cable 29 passing over the grooved pulley 17 and the cable 25 passing over the pulley'23 as is shown clearly in Fig. 1, these cables being designed for raising and lowering the arm 31 in a manner'hereinafter to be described.

The: article supporting arm 31 is shown I prov ded with a plurality of longitudinally spaced article supporting members 32 here shown in the form of inverted U-shaped clips, the cross bar 33 of which is of a width corresponding to the width of the arm 31 and engages the upper face of said arm with the legs 34 of the member 32 closely engaging the opposite sides of said arm. These legs 34 are provided at their free ends with upturned hooks 35 which are preferably round in cross section and have their terminals pointed to facilitate their engagement withthe rug to be supported. Any desired number of these rug engaging devices 32 may be employed and they are here shown connected with the arm 31 by means of. screws passing through the cross bars 33 thereof and engaging the arms 31.

A brace bar 36 is hingedly connected at one end with the post 1 near its lower end and is similarly connected at its other end with the lower face of the arm 31 near its outer or free end, said bar 36 being normally .its inner end, said recess being here shown inverted V-shape in form.- The outer end of the lower face of said plate is beveled to form an entering nose 30 to facilitate the engagement of said latch with the catch 18 and to permit it to ride freely into the socket or recess 16 of the post when the arm is turned upward into its extreme raised position. The formation of this inverted V-shaped recess 30 adapts the catch 30 to reliably engage the latch 18 and the more downward pressure which is exerted on the arm 31 the'greater will be the locking engagement of these members. Consequently, when heavy rugs are mounted on the arm, the arm will be more reliably engaged with the post 1 than when lighter articles are supported thereby.

By forming the supporting members 32 in the manner above described with the hooks 35 positioned on opposite sides of the arm 31, two rugs may be carried by one arm, it being obvious that these arms are deslgned to swing in a horizontal plane for displaying the rugs carried'by the opposite sides thereof.

The post 1 is provided intermediately of its ends with a hook 1 around which the cables 25 and 29 are adapted to be wrapped .for holding the arm 31 in adjusted position after it has been disengaged from the post ,1 as will be presently described.

, From the above description, it will be understood that the arms 31 when mounted 18 and permit the arm to swing outwardly and downwardly, the brace 36 moving simultaneously outward and downward and thereby carrying the inner end of the arm 31 away from the post 1 as is shown in Fig. 2. When the arm has reached its extreme lowermost position shown in full lines in Fig. 2,

it will rest on the brace 36 and both of them will be disposed in a plane at right angles to the post 1, and when in this position they may be securely held by winding the cables around the hook 1 on the post 1. Then the rug carried by the arm may be removed by disengaging it from the supporting hooks 35 and if desired another rug may be substituted by passing the hooks 35 therethrough. The arm 31 may be then raised to operative position by unwinding the cables from the hook l and pulling on them sufficiently to cause the arm 31 and brace 36 to rise until they reach their extreme uppermost position, and when in this position the arm 31 will be forced inwardly and its catch 30 automatically engaged wlth the latch 18, thereby rigidly connecting it with the post 1.

In exhibiting a rug to a customer after the arm 31 has been lowered into its intermediate position shown in Fig. 2, the cables may be wound around the hook 1" and the end of the rug drawn up showing it in draped position and thereby displaying it to the best advantage.

It will be obvious from the above description that any desired number of these arms 31 with their supporting posts 1 may be employed and that the number may be increased or diminished at the option of the user, all that is necessary to remove one of the arms being to disengage the pins 9 which connect the plate 12 with the floor plate 4E which will permit the block 7 carried by said plate to be slipped laterally out of the sockets 6 with which it is engaged, thereby permitting the upper end of the post to be dropped down and disengage the pintle 13 thereof from the bearing 8 of the ceiling plate and the arm and its post may be then removed and taken away. To insert an additional arm, the operation above described will be reversed, the pintle 18 at the upper end of the post being first engaged with the bearing 3 and the block 7 on the lower end thereof slipped laterally into one of the sockets 6 and then connected with the floor plate by passing the securing pins 9 through the aperture 10 in said plate 8 and into the registering sockets provided in the floor plate 4.

lVhile this device is shown and described 'with the main portions thereof constructed of wood and having metal trimmings, it is obvious that it may be constructed entirely of metal if desired and it is not intended to limit the invention to a wooden structure.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a display rack, an upright rectangular supporting post having a pair of openlngs near its upper end, one of said openings extending transversely therethrough, the other forming a latch receiving recess, said post also having an additional opening extending transversely therethrough at a point spaced from the first-mentioned opening, pulleys in said transversely extending openings, a wear-plate covering the pair of openings and having slots therein registering with said openings, a beveled catch member disposed in said recess and formed integrally with said plate, a horizontal rectangular display arm, article holding means on said arm, a latch member in the form of a flat plate secured to one end of said arm, said member having a beveled nose adapted to slide over said beveled catch member, a rectangular brace bar having its ends beveled, said beveled ends being adapted to contact with said supporting post and the horizontal arm, a leaf hinge connecting one end of the brace bar with the display arm, an additional leaf hinge connecting the opposite end of the bar with the post, and cables connected by their ends to opposite ends of the horizontal arm passing around said pulleys.

2. In a display rack, a flat longitudinally extending plate having a plurality of rectangular recesses in its upper face, each opening through one edge and extending slightly beyond the longitudinal center of said plate, said plate also having a pin receiving socket in its upper face at a point spaced from each of said recesses, an additional longitudinally extending plate spaced above the first-mentioned plate and having a series of sockets in its lower face, an upright rectangular supporting post having pivot studs on its opposite ends, the stud on the upper end being adapted to be inserted in one of the sockets in the last-mentioned plate, a bearing block having an opening therein to receive the stud on the lower end of the post, said block having a depending collar surrounding said opening and adapted to be slid into any one of said rectangular recesses, a flange surrounding the opening in the block and having a pin receiving opening therein adapted to register with one of said pin receiving sockets inthe first-mentioned flat plate, a pin for 1 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set jholding said block and the post in one of my hand in presence of two subscribing said rectangular recesses, a horizontal dis- Witnesses.

v play arm connected by one end to the sup- JAMES H. DORAN. 5 porting post, and a brace bar hingedly eon- Witnesses:

nected by its opposite, ends'to the horizon- LAWRENCE D. CAREY, 'tal arm and to the post. LULU M. CAREY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

